BY AARON BARLOW There’s another way: We don’t need to be conforming to artificial numerical scales (based on testing, grades or whatever) or to universal “outcomes” for teaching in order to improve or pedagogy and remain vigorous. All we teachers need to do is turn to each other. We were hired based on a demonstrated…
BY THE GLOBAL FORUM ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM, INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY, AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY June 21, 2019 DECLARATION The Global Forum on Academic Freedom, Institutional Autonomy, and the Future of Democracy was held at Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg on 20 – 21 June 2019 and co-organized by the Council of Europe; the International Consortium…
BY JANE S. GABIN College Counselors responsible for steering high school students towards college might not realize it, but they are crucial allies of instructors at those colleges and universities. Counselors connect admissions representatives with prospective students by scheduling college fairs with tables or booths and information sessions with individual college representatives. They are busy…
BY AARON BARLOW Never were online courses adequate substitutes for face-to-face teaching. Like correspondence courses before them, they do fill a need and they can provide motivated students with a viable alternative. But they should never have been preferred or seen as a blanket equivalent to direct interaction with a professor. That is more true…
BY AARON BARLOW What’s with our disdain for age? I felt it myself for a bit in the sixties, that “don’t trust anyone over thirty” nonsense. But I got over it—even before I got old myself. The people who were influencing me most back then, I realized, were even older than my ancient parents who,…
BY LINDA CARROLL For red state advocacy members, it is heartening that the national leadership and staff of the AAUP are planning a renewed emphasis on organizing in advocacy situations, as announced at this year’s June meeting. Advocacy organizing in red states has a number of distinctive features, as I learned from decades of work…
BY ROBERT CHERNY On June 25, 2019, the San Francisco school board voted unanimously to either paint out or cover with solid panels the thirteen separate murals that make up The Life of Washington, a WPA-funded art project by Victor Arnautoff. The board’s decision came after several years of advocacy led by the district’s American…
BY HANK REICHMAN Shortly after my most recent contribution to this blog, “On Commencement Speakers,” was posted, John Wilson offered the following comment in response: I’ve never participated in a commencement and only attended one in my life, because I find them boring and silly. The commencement address is the only potential exception to this…
BY HANK REICHMAN Commencement season has come to a close for another year, so perhaps it is a good time to reflect on the sometimes thorny issue of the extent to which challenges to commencement speakers, especially those invited to receive an honorary degree, represent a threat to free speech or academic freedom. As Princeton…
BY JOAN W. SCOTT At the 2019 AAUP annual conference Joan W. Scott, professor emerita in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study and longtime member and former chair of AAUP’s Committee A, delivered a luncheon address on the theme of “Knowledge for the Common Good.” The full text of that…